"Gruncle Stan? What are you doing?" Dipper shied away from his own loved one with an overwhelming sense of dread. Before he could react Stan grabbed him by his hair and proceeded to drag him out of bed.
Dipper tried to scream but the wind was momentarily knocked out of him as he hit the floor. Stan continued to drag him across the floor in this manner towards the door. After a moment Dipper regained his senses and grabbed his uncles hand, twisting his wrist till he heard a cracking sound. It was a trick Stan had taught him last summer as part of his "Self Defense" training. At least that's what Ford had called it while Stan had preferred to refer to it as "the art of beating people up". Stand growled as he dropped Dipper and his head hit the ground with a load thud.
Before Stan could grab him again Dipper snatched up the largest, heaviest object he could find, which in this case was an old metal trophy.
"Com'on kid why ya gotta make things difficult?" Stan chided as he flexed his injured, though not broken, wrist.
Without much hesitation Dipper swung at him, hitting him square in the forehead as hard as his could. Stan stumbled back against the wall. A stream of blood trickled down his face seemingly cracking it in two. He chuckled and smiled at Dipper.
"Dang pine tree, when did you get so strong?"
"No," Dipper stumbled backward dropping the trophy on the ground. Only one person ever called him that. But he was dead, gone, no more. So how. "Bill."
"Righty'o champ." Stan, or Bill as the case may be, replied as he lunged forward and wrapped his hands tight around Dipper's neck. He lifted Dipper a good foot in the air. "You pines thought you could get rid of me, but here I am. I'm back and just a bit peeved."
Dipper kicked and clawed as he gasped desperately for air. His head was growing light, and the room, dark. "Don't worry kid I just wanted to play a game with you, I promise you'll love it."
Dipper began to grown limp. Desperately he tried to cling to consciousness.
"Nighty night."
Then everything went black.
"Dipper," game a desperate cry. "Mable?" Dipper's head was killing him, his whole body ached. Slowly he struggled awake. But as soon as he opened his eyes he immediately regretted it.
"Dipper!" Mable cried, tears streamed down her forehead as she hung upside down. She had been stripped down to her underwear and hung from the ceiling. Her whole body had been cut repeatedly and her blood dripped steadily to the floor.
"Mable!" He screamed as he jumped forward.
"Uh-uh-uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bill said with a disapproving finger wag. He was sitting on a control terminal behind Mable. They were in Ford's lab. Bill spoke with Stan's voice, even eyes looked normal. How bill had learned to control a person so flawlessly was a mystery but not one worth solving at the present moment.
"See I was under the impression you humans really like breathing, I mean you do it all the time." Bill pointed down at the floor in front of Dipper. "If you want to make sure your sister keeps doin' it I highly suggest you stay put."
A series of wires were strung a few inches off the floor. Dipper traced the wires along the wall with his eyes. They converged to form a large cord which had been strung around Mable's neck. It was rigged in such a way that if one of those wires was triggered the cord holding Mable's body would break, effectively hanging her by the neck. She'd be dead in seconds.
"You monster." Dipper stammered unable to think of anything else.
"Ouch that really burns." Bill said sarcastically as he casually slit open Stan's finger tips with the strait razor in his hand. "That the best you got pine tree?"
Dipper stepped back trying to analyses the situation. He could try to scream and wake Soos but the lab was sound prof. He couldn't get to his sister directly and it was likely if he left for any reason Bill would simply kill Mable. He didn't know what to do. He was utterly petrified.
"It's a shame, maybe if you hadn't fought with me earlier you could have joined in the fun with you sister," Bill taunted as he took the strait razor and carefully sliced open Mable's cheek.
Mable sobbed, "Please stop, your hurting me..."
"Stop!" Bill laughed "Why on earth would I stop this is so much fun! Aren't you having fun shooting star?"
"No..." Mable choked through tears.
"Let her go!" Dipper shouted with great vigor.
"Hmmm." Bill mused. "I could do that, or I could, ya know, not do that." Bill cut another sliver out of Mable's flesh, this time at the nape of her neck. Mable merely sobbed helplessly.
Bill stood up and admired his handy work. "I gotta admit getting back at you Pines is awfully cathartic. Oh I wish you could have seen the look on ole' six fingers."
"Ford! Where is he?!" Dipper demanded.
Bill/Stan rolled his eyes, "Oh don't worry about him, he's probably dead by now."
"Dead?" Dipper fell back on his knees. Ford was dead. Stan had no control, he wonder if Stan was even in there anymore. He felt helpless. One wrong move would cost him, his sister and the only two people who could help him weren't there to save the day this time.
"Aw, don't look so glum pine tree," Bill cooed. "I'm not an unreasonable transdimensional being. I might just be willing to make you a deal."
"Dipper don't!" Mable pleaded but was abruptly cut off as Bill stabbed the strait razor into her shoulder. Mable shrieked in agony as Bill dug the blade in deeper bringing Stan's face up close to her ear.
"Didn't your parents teach you it's rude to interrupt people?" Bill asked, the question sounded rhetorical but as Mable simply whimpered he shook her. "Well?"
"Mh-hm." Mable mumbled through her tears.
"Well then be a good little star and keep your trap shut while the grown ups talk." This time Bill left the razor lodged in Mable's shoulder, as if for safe keeping, as he stepped dangerously near the trip wires he had laid out.
"See what I really want is my old body back but I've tried that, unfortunately it ain't happening. I'm stuck living inside a human host now." He paced along next to the wires. "Don't get me wrong, revenge is sweet, but..."
"But," Dipper probed.
"But everyday I can feel this old body rotting all around me, it's horrible. I don't know how you humans live like this" Bill threw out his hands for emphasis, "But you." He smiled. "You're young and spry, let me trade in this clunker for a new model and I'll let the girl go how does that sound?"
"A new model?" Dipper stammered as Bill held his hand out to him over the wires.
"I want your body pine tree,"
"Don't do it Dipper!" Mable shrieked.
"I thought I told you to shut up!" Bill roared. Dipper never realized just how deep Stan's voice was before, or just how big he really was, as Bill drew his hand back to smack Mable.
"I'll do it!" Dipper spat.
Bill stopped and smiled, regaining he composure he turned back around to offer Dipper his bloody hand once again. "There we go, finally someone's being reasonable."
Dipper stared wearily at the outstretched hand. "How do I know you wont just take over?" Dipper asked skeptically. After all, Bill had kicked Dipper out of his own body altogether before.
"Don't worry about it, you'll hardly even notice I'm there. Your Uncle was able to suppress me for years, your'e a smart kid it shouldn't be hard for you." Bill smiled.
It was his uncle's face, his uncles voice. But that wasn't Stan, would he even get Stan back? Did it really matter? He didn't have time to worry about these things, Mabel was in danger.
"I'll let you in." Dipper complied and reached his hand out over the wires. As soon as he took gruncle Stan's hand in his he could feel a great pain shooting through his veins. His own screams were drowned out by the sound of laughter.